Depending
on who you ask, the upcoming
Chrome operating system from Google is either reinventing
the wheel by structuring an entire UI around the browser and browser
apps, or is merely another trivial Linux skin. Regardless of
what you think personally, the OS will make some big waves when it
launches holiday season 2010, likely on select netbooks and
tablets.

Today
Google unveiled an impressive cloud printing scheme. The basic
idea is that your apps (in Google's case, all internet apps) can
remotely print to a printer in your home, all without any wires or
direct communication.

It's not the first to dream up
such an idea. Hewlett Packard currently offers a technology
called "HP
Remote Printing" that lets your print to network printers
over the internet while on the road.

What makes Google's plan
unique is that its a full fledged cloud printing scheme; HP's service
only allows you to print JPG images of content.

The
Chrome cloud printing will untangle the mess of print drivers that
Windows deals with, installing a single stable print infrastructure
in the cloud that can communicate with your added
devices.

Using
the one component all major devices and operating systems have in
common-- access to the cloud-- today we're introducing some
preliminary designs for a project called Google Cloud Print, a
service that enables any application (web, desktop, or mobile) on any
device to print to any printer.

Rather than rely on the
local operating system (or drivers) to print, apps can use Google
Cloud Print to submit and manage print jobs. Google Cloud Print will
then be responsible for sending the print job to the appropriate
printer with the particular options the user selected, and returning
the job status to the app.

While
Microsoft's public
beta and release
candidate test program for Windows 7 (and extensive dialogue
via the Windows Team blog) were a great step forward for the company,
Google is offering the public an even closer view of the design
process with Chrome.

Initial reaction to the service was mixed,
despite its innovative nature. Some mentioned privacy concerns,
and others complained that it would be inefficient if print jobs are
sent from your computer to the cloud and then back to a network
printer on your local LAN.

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